"...another reason I'm intrigued with the hanged of Salem, especially the women, is that a number of them aroused suspicion in the first place because they were financially independent, or sharp-tongued, or kept to themselves. In other words, they were killed off for the same sort of life I live right now but with longer skirts and fewer cable channels."
Sarah Vowell, The partly cloudy patriot.

3.22.2007

How exactly do you determine if a cat is lethargic?

Even though stinkerbelle doesn't eat canned food, moist food, or anything in gravy - I am still terrified she will ket kitty poisoning from her kitty food. This whole thing is ridiculous - some are insisting "only" 16 animals died - and yet someone has a database that indicates over 250 pets died (mostly cats, I guess, since they are more vulnerable when kidneys fail). The pet food companies are doing nothing - there are no checks and balances to make sure food for pets is safe - no one regulates these things. And some of the pets that died were taste tester volunteers for the pet food company! If you had volunteered your baby for that, wouldn't you assume at least the food was safe - and at worst, simply not tasty?

We who have baby kitties and puppies have come to think of our pets as family members - and are devastated when bad things occur to them. We put a lot of money into them to make them happy - and the pet industry totally exploits that (watch any pet food commercial, or visit the pet apparel section of any pet store in a big city).

If they are going to convince us that we are BAD kitty and puppy mamas and daddies if we don't get our furry critters the most expensive food, the best outdoor gear, the best carrier, the cutest toy, the yummiest treats - then they need to support this relationship they so willingly exploit. They need to give remuneration to people whose furry critters have gotten sick. And apparently they need to improve their damned customer service in response to this.

1 Comments:

Avoid using Hartz stuff, too. At least Menu Foods did a recall when this happened -- Hartz realised paying for the vet care of the animals (like Matilda, who recovered just fine) who got sick (not the ones who died, because they would claim it was for some other resaon) was cheaper than taking the stuff off the market.